ANC not prioritising gender parity: Political analyst

The lack of gender representation within the executive structures of the ANC is indicative of how little the party thinks of women.

That’s according to political analyst and writer Sithembile Mbete who believes that the lack of women in key posts makes the ANC look “ridiculous”.

“What we keep seeing over and over again is that women leaders in the ANC will always come second to other priorities in the party. At the moment, the priority has been unity. Unity, as we are seeing, is not consistent, with enabling the rise of women in the party,” Mbete says.

She spoke to Iman Rappetti on POWER Talk and says the party has a long way to go to achieve gender equality.

Mbete was speaking on the back of the party’s two provincial conferences in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal at the weekend.

Gauteng legislature chairwoman of committees Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko and KZN co-operative governance and traditional affairs MEC Nomusa Dube were the only two women to be elected to the top five of their respective conferences.

Mbete says self-exclusion and self-sabotage is critical in women not being able to climb the ladder in the ANC.

“The ANC at branch level has so many women that are active members. When the time comes to choose leadership, you have many women excluding themselves.

“The other thing is that the male candidates are a lot more forceful in putting themselves forward for leadership and are able to get support not only from other men but from women as well.”